NJ highway fatalities fell 9.3 percent in 2018. Is it a trend or good luck?

A serious accident on Old Hook Road has sent at least one person to the hospital via Medivac helicopter in Harrington Park, on Wednesday January 2, 2019. A minivan and an SUV collided in a head-on accident between Schraalenburgh Rd and Bogert Mills Rd closing that section of Old Hook Rd during the morning commute while investigators are on scene.(Photo: Tariq Zehawi, Tariq Zehawi/NorthJersey.com)

Farmer said, however, that it would be difficult to explain what's behind the nearly 10 percent drop in road fatalities last year. And it doesn't guarantee that this year's numbers will be better, he added.

"Until we see the numbers stay down, don’t declare success just yet," he said.

Of those killed in 2018, 175 were pedestrians. The figure in 2017 was even higher – 183. Both years were the deadliest for pedestrians in the state in 25 years.

Still, that meant more than 37,000 people died in motor-vehicle crashes.

New Jersey is one of the safer states in the country, in terms of highway fatalities per 100,000 residents and per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, according to IIHS.

New Jersey had 6.7 fatalities per 100,000 residents in 2016, while all states combined had 11.6. The state had 0.78 fatalities per 100 million miles traveled that year, versus 1.16 nationwide.

Only New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia had better numbers.

States with long stretches of rural roads have higher fatalities per population and miles driven, Farmer noted.

Farmer said any number of factors could cause a decline in fatalities. Those might include higher unemployment, higher gas prices and safer cars. But no one factor can account for the kind of drop New Jersey saw last year, he said, or signal a trend.

"Trying to explain why you would see a 9 percent drop in one year is tough," Farmer said. "My advice is: Don’t get too excited."